Simulating mother–child interaction: exploring two varieties of a non‐linear dynamic systems approach1

In theoretical analyses of early mother–child interaction, it has been argued that interaction should be studied in its flow over time, and that the behaviour of each interactant is likely to be non‐linearly determined. The mother–child dyad can be seen as a non‐linear dynamic system, the development of which is determined by the mutual relations between its elements. The present study is based on the idea that computer simulations can be used to find out what kind of empirical implication these ideas have. Accordingly, we describe two non‐linear dynamic systems‐based models for simulating mother–child interaction, i.e. a connectionist network model and a logistic growth model. Three determinants of the nature of the interaction, i.e. the child's irritability, the mother's sensitive responsiveness, and the intensity of an external stressor bothering the child, are varied systematically. Although the results of both simulations differed considerably, they shared the fact that small changes in stressor intensity produced abrupt changes from one type of interaction to another. In addition, increasing stressor intensity sometimes had the paradoxical effect of resulting in less, rather than more, distress on the side of the child. Though irritability and responsiveness were varied in a less fine‐grained way than stressor intensity, the results suggest that similarly small differences in these dimensions at different parts of the dimension's scale range have differentially strong effects on the nature of the interaction. It is concluded that these simulations help us to specify the nature of empirically researchable phenomena that are to be expected, given the assumptions listed above. Further elaboration of the models and comparison with longitudinal empirical data is needed to answer further theoretical and practical questions. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

概化理论方差分量及其变异量估计:跨分布的模拟研究

为考察概化理论中方差分量及其变异量估计的准确性,采用模拟研究的方法,探究Traditional法、Jackknife法、Bootstrap法和MCMC法在p×i×h和p×(i:h)2种双侧面设计和正态、二项、多项、偏态分布4种数据类型下的表现。结果显示:(1)4种方法均能准确估计方差分量;(2)估计方差分量的标准误时,若数据正态分布,Traditional法最优,非正态分布时Bootstrap法最优;(3)估计方差分量的90%置信区间时,Bootstrap法在不同分布的数据下表现稳定,但容易受到侧面水平数的影响。综合来说,若数据呈正态分布,建议选用Traditional法; 若数据呈非正态分布,建议选用Bootstrap法。     

Planet Braitenberg: Experiments in virtual psychology

Braitenberg vehicles are simple robotic platforms, equipped with rudimentary sensor and motor components. Such vehicles have typically featured as part of thought experiments that are intended to show how complex behaviours are apt to emerge from the interaction of inner control mechanisms with aspects of bodily structure and features of the wider (extra-agential) environment. The present paper describes a framework for creating Braitenberg-like vehicles, which is built on top of a widely used and freely available game engine, namely, the Unity game engine. The framework can be used to study the behaviour of virtual vehicles within a multiplicity of virtual environments. All aspects of the vehicle’s design, as well as the wider virtual environment in which the vehicle is situated, can be modified during the design phase, as well as at runtime. The result is a general-purpose simulation capability that is intended to provide the foundation for studies in so-called computational situated cognition—a field of study whose primary objective is to support the computational modelling of cognitive processes associated with the physically-embodied, environmentally-embedded, and materially-extended mind.     

Kinaesthetic imagery ability moderates the effect of an AO+MI intervention on golf putt performance: A pilot study

BackgroundPrevious research has established that motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) independently enhance the performance and learning of motor skills. Recent studies have demonstrated that combining AO and MI (AO + MI) elicits increased activity in motor regions of the brain and enhances performance more than either AO or MI alone. Kinesthetic imagery (KI) ability refers to the ease with which one can sense their own body and imagine how a movement feels during a task (Malouin et al., 2007). KI ability may be of particular importance when engaging with AO + MI as the provision of an external visual stimulus through AO renders the visual component of MI redundant.ObjectiveThe current study aims to add to the emerging body of behavioural evidence demonstrating the performance benefits of AO + MI by exploring the effect of an AO + MI intervention on golf putting performance, as well as exploring the role that KI ability represents in AO + MI effectiveness.MethodRight-handed male golfers (N = 44) of varying skill level performed twenty 15-foot putts before and after a 3.5 min AO + MI intervention (AO + MI group; mean handicap = 7.5, SD = 4.3) or a similarly timed passive reading task (Control group; mean handicap = 11.5, SD = 5.4). Using the MIQ-3 questionnaire, participants in both experimental groups were classified according to kinesthetic imagery ability where: a mean score ≥6 were classified as good imagers. Performance accuracy was measured using mean radial error (MRE), precision was quantified via bivariate error (BVE) and putter kinematics were recorded by SAM Puttlab.ResultsResults from a series of ANCOVAs indicate that good kinesthetic imagers who received the AO + MI intervention were significantly more precise (BVRE) on the putting task than good kinesthetic imagers in the Control group (p = 0.041, d = 0.678). Good kinesthetic imagers in the intervention group also significantly outperformed good kinesthetic imagers in the control group on a measure of speed control (SD of error scores along the axis of progression) in golf putting (p = 0.041).ConclusionsOur results suggest that the presence of AO with MI increases the relevance of kinesthetic cues, that good kinesthetic imagers are able to utilise for subsequent performance benefits during the putting task. We discuss the increased importance of kinesthetic awareness/feel following the intervention as an explanation for such improvements in performance.     

具身认知视角的饮食消费行为——基于心理模拟“具身”方式

随着具身认知理论的发展, 基于心理模拟“具身”方式的饮食消费行为研究得到了一些新颖、有趣的研究结果, 为过食与肥胖、食品营销等问题的解决提供了新视角。心理模拟既能促进进食也能抑制进食; 心理模拟容易性因素与动机性因素是影响心理模拟程度的两大类主要前因变量; 未来需要进一步探索心理模拟的容易性因素与动机性因素、心理模拟提高消费欲望与产生腻厌反应的边界条件, 以及利用心理模拟探讨肥胖高危人群——高奖赏敏感性个体过食的深层次内在机制等。     

Generalized canonical correlation analysis of matrices with missing rows: a simulation study

A method is presented for generalized canonical correlation analysis of two or more matrices with missing rows. The method is a combination of Carroll’s (1968) method and the missing data approach of the OVERALS technique (Van der Burg, 1988). In a simulation study we assess the performance of the method and compare it to an existing procedure called GENCOM, proposed by Green and Carroll (1988). We find that the proposed method outperforms the GENCOM algorithm both with respect to model fit and recovery of the true structure. The research of Michel van de Velden was partly funded through EU Grant HPMF-CT-2000-00664. The authors would like to thank the associate editor and three anonymous referees for their constructive comments and suggestions that led to a considerable improvement of the paper.     

Learning the form of causal relationships using hierarchical bayesian models

People learn quickly when reasoning about causal relationships, making inferences from limited data and avoiding spurious inferences. Efficient learning depends on abstract knowledge, which is often domain or context specific, and much of it must be learned. While such knowledge effects are well documented, little is known about exactly how we acquire knowledge that constrains learning. This work focuses on knowledge of the functional form of causal relationships; there are many kinds of relationships that can apply between causes and their effects, and knowledge of the form such a relationship takes is important in order to quickly identify the real causes of an observed effect. We developed a hierarchical Bayesian model of the acquisition of knowledge of the functional form of causal relationships and tested it in five experimental studies, considering disjunctive and conjunctive relationships, failure rates, and cross-domain effects. The Bayesian model accurately predicted human judgments and outperformed several alternative models.     

How the intentions of the draftsman shape perception of a drawing

The interaction between the recovery of the artist’s intentions and the perception of an artwork is a classic topic for philosophy and history of art. It also frequently, albeit sometimes implicitly, comes up in everyday thought and conversation about art and artworks. Since recent work in cognitive science can help us understand how we perceive and understand the intentions of others, this discipline could fruitfully participate in a multidisciplinary investigation of the role of intention recovery in art perception. The method I propose is to look for cases where recovery of the artist’s intentions interacts with perception of a work of art, and this cannot be explain by a simple top-down influence of conscious propositional knowledge on perception. I will focus on drawing and show that recovery of the draftsman’s intentional actions is handled by a psychological process shaped by the motor system of the observer.     

Intrinsic cognitive models

Theories concerning the structure, or format, of mental representation should (1) be formulated in mechanistic, rather than metaphorical terms; (2) do justice to several philosophical intuitions about mental representation; and (3) explain the human capacity to predict the consequences of worldly alterations (i.e., to think before we act). The hypothesis that thinking involves the application of syntax‐sensitive inference rules to syntactically structured mental representations has been said to satisfy all three conditions. An alternative hypothesis is that thinking requires the construction and manipulation of the cognitive equivalent of scale models. A reading of this hypothesis is provided that satisfies condition (1) and which, even though it may not fully satisfy condition (2), turns out (in light of the frame problem) to be the only known way to satisfy condition (3).