Do development and learning really decrease memory? On similarity and category-based induction in adults and children

In a recently published study, Sloutsky and Fisher [Sloutsky, V. M., & Fisher, A.V. (2004a). When development and learning decrease memory: Evidence against category-based induction in children. Psychological Science, 15, 553-558; Sloutsky, V. M., & Fisher, A. V. (2004b). Induction and categorization in young children: A similarity-based model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133, 166-188.] demonstrated that children have better memory for the items that they generalise to than do adults. On the basis of this finding, they claim that children and adults use different mechanisms for inductive generalisations; whereas adults focus on shared category membership, children project properties on the basis of perceptual similarity. Sloutsky & Fisher attribute children's enhanced recognition memory to the more detailed processing required by this similarity-based mechanism. In Experiment 1 we show that children look at the stimulus items for longer than adults. In Experiment 2 we demonstrate that although when given just 250ms to inspect the items children remain capable of making accurate inferences, their subsequent memory for those items decreases significantly. These findings suggest that there are no necessary conclusions to be drawn from Sloutsky & Fisher's results about developmental differences in generalisation strategy.     

Using category structures to test iterated learning as a method for identifying inductive biases

Many of the problems studied in cognitive science are inductive problems, requiring people to evaluate hypotheses in the light of data. The key to solving these problems successfully is having the right inductive biases—assumptions about the world that make it possible to choose between hypotheses that are equally consistent with the observed data. This article explores a novel experimental method for identifying the biases that guide human inductive inferences. The idea behind this method is simple: This article uses the responses produced by a participant on one trial to generate the stimuli that either they or another participant will see on the next. A formal analysis of this "iterated learning" procedure, based on the assumption that the learners are Bayesian agents, predicts that it should reveal the inductive biases of these learners, as expressed in a prior probability distribution over hypotheses. This article presents a series of experiments using stimuli based on a well-studied set of category structures, demonstrating that iterated learning can be used to reveal the inductive biases of human learners.     

观点采择因素对3～4岁儿童延迟满足决策的影响

通过采用延迟满足决策任务,要求儿童分别为自己和他人做出决策,本研究考察了观点采择因素对儿童情感决策发展的影响。实验一选取3岁和4岁儿童各40名,结果发现3岁儿童和4岁儿童在为自己选和为他人选两种条件下的表现均无显著差异,都倾向于做出延迟选择。实验二选取3岁和4岁儿童各60名,在为他人的选择中进一步区分了不同的观点提示条件,并增加了观点采择测验任务。结果发现,4岁儿童的观点采择能力得到了初步的发展,在不同的观点提示条件下为他人选择时分别表现出了与为自己选择不同的决策趋势;3岁儿童尚未获得观点采择能力,在各种不同观点提示条件下为自己和为他人做选择时差异均不显著。本研究结果表明,观点采择能力对儿童情感决策的影响是发展性的。随着观点采择能力的发展,儿童逐渐能够确立正确的延迟动机,为他人做出有效的决策。     

职业延迟满足研究述评

职业延迟满足强调人们为了实现长期职业目标, 克服职业生涯中即时满足的冲动和诱惑的选择倾向, 并为审视和解释个体职业生涯发展提供了新的视角。国外研究者一般从工作伦理的范畴来考察职业延迟满足, 而在中国, 职业延迟满足则成为一个明确的组织行为学概念得以发展。虽然国内外研究者从个体、组织和社会等多个层面考察了职业延迟满足的相关因素及其效果, 但由于该领域的研究起步较晚, 现有研究并不深入。未来应重点关注职业延迟满足的本土化研究、概念发展、测量方法的改进, 并纵向研究其对个体职业成长的影响机制与效果。     

回溯式时距估计的动态性及心理机制

时间流逝过程中, 回溯式时距估计动态性体现在短时延迟和长时发展两个方面。前者聚焦秒、分级的延迟, 将其归为背景变化或由目标时距引发的认知差异; 后者聚焦跨年龄(如婴儿、儿童到成年)的个体发展, 认为主要是信息加工速度的差异。最后, 从综合视角出发, 认为其动态性可能是由不同时距信息心理表征的差异造成的, 这体现时间认知的分段综合性。未来需以时间流逝的动态视角开展回溯式时距估计的心理表征研究, 深入探讨与目标时距紧密相关的计时策略在回溯式时距估计中的作用, 并扩展年龄、人格类型等个体差异方面的动态特征研究。     

Effects of delayed time‐out on problem behavior of preschool children

Time‐out is a common negative punishment procedure in home and school settings. Although prior studies have shown time‐out is effective, more research is needed on its effects when implementation is imperfect. We evaluated delays to time‐out with 4 preschool children who engaged in some combination of aggression, property destruction, and rule breaking. Target behavior decreased for all subjects exposed to delayed time‐out, with 3 of 4 subjects displaying low levels of target behavior even when time‐out was delayed by 90‐120 s. These data suggest delayed time‐out might be effective in situations in which a caregiver or teacher cannot implement time‐out immediately.     

An overview of Bayesian reasoning in the analysis of delay‐discounting data

Statistical inference (including interval estimation and model selection) is increasingly used in the analysis of behavioral data. As with many other fields, statistical approaches for these analyses traditionally use classical (i.e., frequentist) methods. Interpreting classical intervals and p‐values correctly can be burdensome and counterintuitive. By contrast, Bayesian methods treat data, parameters, and hypotheses as random quantities and use rules of conditional probability to produce direct probabilistic statements about models and parameters given observed study data. In this work, we reanalyze two data sets using Bayesian procedures. We precede the analyses with an overview of the Bayesian paradigm. The first study reanalyzes data from a recent study of controls, heavy smokers, and individuals with alcohol and/or cocaine substance use disorder, and focuses on Bayesian hypothesis testing for covariates and interval estimation for discounting rates among various substance use disorder profiles. The second example analyzes hypothetical environmental delay‐discounting data. This example focuses on using historical data to establish prior distributions for parameters while allowing subjective expert opinion to govern the prior distribution on model preference. We review the subjective nature of specifying Bayesian prior distributions but also review established methods to standardize the generation of priors and remove subjective influence while still taking advantage of the interpretive advantages of Bayesian analyses. We present the Bayesian approach as an alternative paradigm for statistical inference and discuss its strengths and weaknesses.     

Response rate correlates with indifference points in a delay‐discounting procedure

To study how effort affects reward value, we replicated Fortes, Vasconcelos and Machado's (2015) study using an adjusting‐delay task. Nine pigeons chose between a standard alternative that gave access to 4 s of food, after a 10 s delay, and an adjusting‐delay alternative that gave access to 12 s of food after a delay that changed dynamically with the pigeons' choices, decreasing when they preferred the standard alternative, and increasing when they preferred the adjusting alternative. The delay value at which preference stabilized defined the indifference point, a measure of reward value. To manipulate effort across phases, we varied the response rate required during the delay of the standard alternative. Results showed that a) the indifference point increased in the higher‐response‐rate phases, suggesting that reward value decreased with effort, and b) in the higher‐response‐rate phases, response rate in the standard alternative was linearly related to the indifference point. We advance several conceptions of how effort may change perceived delay or amount and thereby affect reward value.     

Contingency tracking during unsignaled delayed reinforcement: Effects of delay duration and d‐amphetamine

In two experiments, the role of the response–reinforcer relation in maintaining low‐rate responding under unsignaled delay conditions was investigated. In both experiments pecking by pigeons on one response key, denoted the relevant key, was reinforced under an unsignaled delay‐of‐reinforcement procedure (defined as tandem variable‐interval (VI) differential‐reinforcement‐of‐other behavior [DRO] schedule). Responding on a second key, denoted the irrelevant key, had no programmed consequences. Between sessions, the location of the relevant key varied (after one, two, or three sessions) pseudorandomly. In Experiment 1, the delay (DRO) duration was manipulated parametrically. Overall, proportional relevant‐key response rates (relevant‐key response rates / [relevant‐key response rates + irrelevant key response rates]) increased across 3‐session sequences in which the relevant key remained in the same location and decreased as the DRO duration was changed systematically (2, 5, and 10 s). In Experiment 2, acute administration of d‐amphetamine increased proportional relevant‐key response rates during 1‐day sequences for only the DRO 5‐s duration, and results over 3‐day sequences, once a discrimination had already been established, were inconsistent. Results support that the response–reinforcer relation is the primary determinant of responding, and such discriminations are relatively resistant to disruption or potentiation by behaviorally active doses of d‐amphetamine.     

Age‐related differences in delay discounting: Immediate reward,reward magnitude,and social influence

Delay discounting refers to the tendency of individuals to subjectively devalue rewards that are to be received in the future, with high rates of delay discounting being associated with a variety of maladaptive life outcomes (e.g., unhealthy dietary and exercise behaviors). The current study explored the psychological and social processes involved in adult age‐related differences in delay discounting of monetary rewards. Younger adults exhibited higher levels of delay discounting than older adults. This increased level of patience in older adults was found whether smaller‐sooner rewards were to be received immediately or in the future. However, there was an interaction with reward magnitude, whereby younger adults exhibited higher levels of delay discounting for smaller reward magnitudes but not larger reward magnitudes. Social influence on delay discounting was investigated by having participants complete three phases of the delay‐discounting task: an individual precollaboration phase, a collaboration phase in age‐group‐matched dyads, and an individual postcollaboration phase. A convergence effect was observed in that dyad members' postcollaboration choices were significantly more similar compared to their baseline choices during the precollaboration phase. Moreover, levels of convergence were comparable between younger and older adults, suggesting age invariance in social influence on delay discounting. The current results demonstrate a degree of malleability in delay discounting that extends into older adulthood, making interventions targeting the construct a promising avenue for future research.