A Test by Any Other Name: P Values,Bayes Factors,and Statistical Inference

Procedures used for statistical inference are receiving increased scrutiny as the scientific community studies the factors associated with insuring reproducible research. This note addresses recent negative attention directed at p values, the relationship of confidence intervals and tests, and the role of Bayesian inference and Bayes factors, with an eye toward better understanding these different strategies for statistical inference. We argue that researchers and data analysts too often resort to binary decisions (e.g., whether to reject or accept the null hypothesis) in settings where this may not be required.     

Judging the plausibility of arguments in scientific texts: a student–scientist comparison

The ability to evaluate scientific claims and evidence is an important aspect of scientific literacy and requires various epistemic competences. Readers spontaneously validate presented information against their knowledge and beliefs but differ in their ability to strategically evaluate the soundness of informal arguments. The present research investigated how students of psychology, compared to scientists working in psychology, evaluate informal arguments. Using a think-aloud procedure, we identified the specific strategies students and scientists apply when judging the plausibility of arguments and classifying common argumentation fallacies. Results indicate that students, compared to scientists, have difficulties forming these judgements and base them on intuition and opinion rather than the internal consistency of arguments. Our findings are discussed using the mental model theory framework. Although introductory students validate scientific information against their knowledge and beliefs, their judgements are often erroneous, in part because their use of strategy is immature. Implications for systematic trainings of epistemic competences are discussed.     

Visual categorization of natural stimuli by domestic dogs

One of the fundamental issues in the study of animal cognition concerns categorization. Although domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) are on the brink to become one of the model animals in animal psychology, their categorization abilities are unknown. This is probably largely due to the absence of an adequate method for testing dogs’ ability to discriminate between large sets of pictures in the absence of human cueing. Here we present a computer-automated touch-screen testing procedure, which enabled us to test visual discrimination in dogs while social cueing was ruled out. Using a simultaneous discrimination procedure, we first trained dogs (N = 4) to differentiate between a set of dog pictures (N = 40) and an equally large set of landscape pictures. All subjects learned to discriminate between the two sets and showed successful transfer to novel pictures. Interestingly, presentation of pictures providing contradictive information (novel dog pictures mounted on familiar landscape pictures) did not disrupt performance, which suggests that the dogs made use of a category-based response rule with classification being coupled to category-relevant features (of the dog) rather than to item-specific features (of the background). We conclude that dogs are able to classify photographs of natural stimuli by means of a perceptual response rule using a newly established touch-screen procedure. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

文本阅读中回指推理发生的整合性因素

探讨回指距离、干扰词的精细描述、干扰词的典型性 对回指推理（先行词通达）的影响。包括2个实验,被试是华南师范大学一二年级本科生164名。采用移动窗口技术,要求被试阅读一定篇数（如,实验1a每个被试阅读15篇）的文章,对不同条件的探测词的反应时进行统计。实验1探讨干扰词精细描述类型（精细描述高和精细描述低）对回指推理的影响。结果表明,干扰的精细描述并非是影响回指推理的主要因素。实验2探讨干扰词和先行词的典型性类型的相对变化对回指推理的影响。结果表明高典型干扰在不同回指距离条件下都会对回指推理产生影响。本研究结果初步证明在影响回指推理的干扰典型性和干扰精细描述的二个因素中,起主要作用的是干扰的典型性     

类比归纳的相似性效应和概念效应比较

该文用两个实验比较了类比归纳中的相似性效应和概念效应。预备实验首先检验了实验所使用的人工概念符号的效度。结果显示,研究采用的人工符号能够按照实验要求准确控制被试对概念关系和相似性的估计。预备实验还显示,在只有相似性或概念信息的条件下,人们更加信任概念信息。在正式实验中,相似性信息和概念信息同时呈现,结果显示,在概念信息明确的时候,人会忽略相似性信息;但在相似性信息和明确的时候,人不会忽略概念信息,因此,文章得出结论：概念是类比归纳的基本构成要素。     

Forward inference in risky choice: Mapping gaze and decision processes

The study of cognitive processes is built on a close mapping between three components: overt gaze behavior, overt choice, and covert processes. To validate this overt–covert mapping in the domain of decision‐making, we collected eye‐movement data during decisions between risky gamble problems. Applying a forward inference paradigm, participants were instructed to use specific decision strategies to solve those gamble problems (maximizing expected values or applying different choice heuristics) during which gaze behavior was recorded. We revealed differences between overt behavior, as indicated by eye movements, and covert decision processes, instructed by the experimenter. However, our results show that the overt–covert mapping is for some eye‐movement measures not as close as expected by current decision theory, and hence question reverse inference as being prone to fallacies due to a violation of its prerequisite, that is, a close overt–covert mapping. We propose a framework to rehabilitate reverse inference.     

相对熟悉度和同音线索在谐音型歇后语理解中的作用

谐音型歇后语是汉语特殊的语汇表达形式, 对其加工常常需要通达后一语节的同音线索来完成语音、语义隐喻映射。本研究通过2个实验探讨相对熟悉度和同音线索类型对谐音型歇后语加工的作用。实验1结果表明, 在高熟悉度条件下, 被试对语汇的加工策略取决于歇后语的同音线索类型。当后一语节为同音字时, 加工较为快速; 当后一语节为谐音字时, 通达歇后语隐喻意义的路径受阻。对熟悉度较高的谐音型歇后语进行加工, 语义通达表现出预存性; 在缺乏同音线索的条件下, 语料加工时间较长, 反应准确率较低, 支持概念隐喻模型和概念合成假说。而对熟悉度较低的歇后语进行加工, 被试更倾向于采用即时(on-line)策略, 支持概念合成理论和基于心理模型的语用推理假说。实验2结果表明, 呈现“错误同音”线索对歇后语的加工形成干扰, 不支持概念合成理论和基于心理模型的语用推理理论。总的结果表明, 相对熟悉度和同音线索类型影响谐音型歇后语的通达, 谐音歇后语加工需要同时激活语音和语义两条通道。     

Control of pigeons' pecking by trace stimuli

In Experiment I, pigeons' pecking a white key was reinforced with grain when white was immediately preceded by a vertical white line on a green surround, but not by green alone. This procedure produced control of pecking by the line. Next, pecking white was reinforced after vertical line on green, but not after green alone or other orientations of the white line on green. The line-tilt dimension initially did not control pecking, a result that showed that interdimensional (line versus no line) training does not always result in dimensional control. Line-tilt control was eventually established but was accompanied by a decrease in interdimensional control. In Experiment II, interdimensional training, with or without a trace interval intervening between line on green or green alone and white, was followed by tests for line-tilt control. While interdimensional control was unaffected by the trace interval, line-tilt control tended to be less with the trace interval. This dissociation of interdimensional and dimensional control, as well as the failure of interdimensional training to produce dimensional control in Experiment I, suggests that the line stimulus is multidimensional.     

再认记忆测验中抑郁个体的心境一致性记忆研究

采用Ｊａｃｏｂｙ的加工分离程序,对再从记忆测验中外显记忆成分与内隐记忆成分的贡献进行分离,考察了抑郁个体的内隐记忆和外显记忆是否具有心境一致性记忆倾向。结果表明：抑郁个体的外显记忆具有心境一致性倾向,而内隐记忆不存在心境一致性倾向,表明心境一致性记忆需要精细加工机制的参与。另外发现,抑郁个体存在外显记忆缺损而没有出现内隐记忆缺损。最后就一些有待进一步研究的方面进行了讨论。     

Spontaneous trait inference and construal level theory: Psychological distance increases nonconscious trait thinking

Can psychological distance affect how much perceivers form spontaneous trait inferences (STI) from others’ behaviors? On the basis of construal level theory (CLT) which posits that distant (vs. near) entities are represented more in terms of their abstract, global, and decontextualized features, we predicted that perceived distance would increase the tendency for perceivers to draw spontaneous trait inferences from behavioral information about actors. In two experiments, participants learned about people who were perceived as being distant or proximal to the self, and STI formation was subsequently assessed. We found that perceivers were more likely to form STIs about distant vs. near actors from the same behavioral information. These findings generalized across two distance dimensions: space and time. In addition, we found that priming individuals to adopt a high-level (vs. low-level) construal mindset also resulted in increased STI (Experiment 3). In sum, psychological distance facilitates STI formation, and this occurs via high-level construal of actors and their behaviors.