Measuring concept semantic relatedness through common spatial pattern feature extraction on EEG signals

We study the semantic relationship between pairs of nouns of concrete objects such as “HORSE - SHEEP” and “SWING - MELON” and how this relationship activity is reflected in EEG signals. We collected 18 sets of EEG records; each set containing 150 events of stimulation. In this work we focus on feature extraction algorithms. Particularly, we highlight Common Spatial Pattern (CSP) as a method of feature extraction. Based on these latter, different classifiers were trained in order to associate a set of signals to a previously learned human answer, pertaining to two classes: semantically related, or not semantically related. The results of classification accuracy were evaluated comparing with other four methods of feature extraction, and using classification algorithms from five different families. In all cases, classification accuracy was benefited from using CSP instead of FDTW, LPC, PCA or ICA for feature extraction. Particularly with the combination CSP-Naïve Bayes we obtained the best average precision of 84.63%.     

“和而不同”：中西文化下人际互动和谐相容模型比较

孔子提出“君子和而不同,小人同而不和”的和谐伦理观。“和”是中国传统文化的一个核心概念,在中国古代哲学思想中,“同”与“和”是一对相互联系又相互区别的概念。现代心理学从人际理论和社会认知理论都阐述了同与和的关系。人际理论家分别从特质、情境和行为互动层面提出互补匹配与和谐的关系,而社会认知理论家以自我和他人相似特质为起点,建构了以感知水平和情感为中介的相似性和谐模式。本文结合以往实证研究结果,提出了中国传统文化下,“和而不同”的思想贯穿于整个人际互动的过程中,同时关系层面是影响互动双方评价互动和谐的一个重要因素．     

Effects of gender similarity on relationships between person–group value fit and work attitudes

The present study assessed the effect of gender similarity as a potential moderator of the relationships between person–group (P–G) value fit and work attitudes. Specifically, we predicted that the effect of P–G value fit (in terms of social integration values) on individual attitudes would be stronger for individuals who had a similar gender than those of a different gender. Based on data obtained from 197 employees in South Korea, we found that when the focal individual had high gender similarity with his or her group, the relationships between P–G value fit and job satisfaction and between P–G value fit and turnover intentions were more prominent. Furthermore, these moderating effects were significant for men, but not for women.     

Want to block earworms from conscious awareness?B(u)y gum!

In a recent article, Jamieson and Mewhort (2009) proposed a novel account of artificial grammar learning (AGL), which is based on a multitrace model of episodic memory, the Minerva 2 model. According to this account, test performance in AGL is based on an assessment of global similarity of the test strings to the memory traces of the training strings. In this article, simulation studies are presented, showing for three different AGL experiments that the predictions of the Minerva 2 model strikingly deviate from participants' performance. It is argued that participants' test performance is not generally based on general similarity.     

Phonological,visual, and semantic coding strategies and children's short-term picture memory span

Three experiments addressed controversies in the previous literature on the development of phonological and other forms of short-term memory coding in children, using assessments of picture memory span that ruled out potentially confounding effects of verbal input and output. Picture materials were varied in terms of phonological similarity, visual similarity, semantic similarity, and word length. Older children (6/8-year-olds), but not younger children (4/5-year-olds), demonstrated robust and consistent phonological similarity and word length effects, indicating that they were using phonological coding strategies. This confirmed findings initially reported by Conrad (1971), but subsequently questioned by other authors. However, in contrast to some previous research, little evidence was found for a distinct visual coding stage at 4 years, casting doubt on assumptions that this is a developmental stage that consistently precedes phonological coding. There was some evidence for a dual visual and phonological coding stage prior to exclusive use of phonological coding at around 5–6 years. Evidence for semantic similarity effects was limited, suggesting that semantic coding is not a key method by which young children recall lists of pictures.     

分类中相似性的理论与模型

相似性在分类的原型理论、样例理论、定义理论和理论解释观中都扮演着重要的角色。人们对相似性的研究由来已久,但是它在分类的领域中至今仍是一个相对模糊的概念,这部分地由于揭示相似性的真正机制将涉及到复杂的信息加工过程。本文以分类中的相似性为出发点介绍了近期相似性研究的一些理论与模型并在此基础上对概念和分类领域中的相似性研究进行了分析和总结。     

Constrained multidimensional unfolding of confusion matrices: Goal point and slide vector models

Two constrained multidimensional unfolding models, the goal point and slide vector models, are proposed for analyzing confusion matrices. In both models, the row and column stimuli are expressed as two sets of points in a low-dimensional space, where the difference vector connecting a column point to the corresponding row point indicates the change in the stimulus representation through a cognitive process. The difference vector is constrained by the hypothesis that the trend in the representational change is invariant across stimuli: the goal point model constrains all difference vectors to point toward a single point, and the slide vector model constrains all difference vectors to be parallel to each other. In both models the coordinates of points are estimated by the maximum-likelihood method. Examples illustrate that the two models allow us to examine hypotheses about invariant trends in representational changes and to grasp such trends from the resulting configurations.     

Cultural Similarity, Foreign Policy Actions, and Regime Perception: An Experimental Study of International Cues and Democratic Peace

This study examines previous explanations of democratic peace in light of sociocultural factors and foreign policy actions that influence public perceptions of another country. Two experiments assessed the effects of relevant sociocultural and foreign policy action cues on perception of the regime type of a target nation and on public approval of the use of force. The findings suggest that sociocultural cues affect regime perception. Moreover, perceived similarity of a target nation and foreign policy actions are significant determinants of the public approval of the use of force in addition to perceptions of regime type.     

珠心算的心理机制实验研究述评

本文回顾了近年来有关珠心算心理机制的实验研究,指出该方面的研究主要是通过采用”专家一新手“对比的研究方法,探索珠心算训练对记忆广度、记忆的迁移、加工方式及左右脑功能的影响。