Connecting the dots: Illusory pattern perception predicts belief in conspiracies and the supernatural

A common assumption is that belief in conspiracy theories and supernatural phenomena are grounded in illusory pattern perception. In the present research we systematically tested this assumption. Study 1 revealed that such irrational beliefs are related to perceiving patterns in randomly generated coin toss outcomes. In Study 2, pattern search instructions exerted an indirect effect on irrational beliefs through pattern perception. Study 3 revealed that perceiving patterns in chaotic but not in structured paintings predicted irrational beliefs. In Study 4, we found that agreement with texts supporting paranormal phenomena or conspiracy theories predicted pattern perception. In Study 5, we manipulated belief in a specific conspiracy theory. This manipulation influenced the extent to which people perceive patterns in world events, which in turn predicted unrelated irrational beliefs. We conclude that illusory pattern perception is a central cognitive mechanism accounting for conspiracy theories and supernatural beliefs.     

Glivenko Type Theorems for Intuitionistic Modal Logics

In this article we deal with Glivenko type theorems for intuitionistic modal logics over Prior's MIPC. We examine the problems which appear in proving Glivenko type theorems when passing from the intuitionistic propositional logic Intto MIPC. As a result we obtain two different versions of Glivenko's theorem for logics over MIPC. Since MIPCcan be thought of as a one-variable fragment of the intuitionistic predicate logic Q-Int, one of the versions of Glivenko's theorem for logics over MIPCis closely related to that for intermediate predicate logics obtained by Umezawa [27] and Gabbay [15]. Another one is rather surprising.     

幼儿在等级图形知觉中的整体优先现象

研究采用Navon的干涉实验范式和等级图形刺激模式研究4-6岁幼儿的整体优先现象。实验中所用刺激的结构关系有一致、无关、矛盾。实验1研究自由注意条件下,不同年龄儿童自发形成整体或局部反应策略的比率,发现被试自发形成对整体特征反应策略的比例较大,且该比例是随年龄而增长的;实验2比较注意整体和注意局部两种实验条件下,不同年龄儿童对整体或局部的反应正确率。结果发现在注意整体和注意局部的条件下,4-6岁幼儿的整体／局部干涉效应呈相互影响到相互独立再到整体优势的发展过程。这表明幼儿对整体特征的注意选择可能是随着年龄增长和视觉经验的积累而逐渐成型的。     

11-15岁学生性格发展模式的研究

本研究以776名11-15岁汉族与白族中小学生为被试,研究了学生性格发展的年龄模式.结果表明,年龄因素对学生性格发展的影响显著,在被测量的24种性格特质中,有18种特质在性质上表现为随年龄的增长而逐步提高的趋势,但是在13岁组发现特质发展的低谷.     

The Probability of Small Schedule Values and Preference for Random-Interval Schedules

Preference for working on variable schedules and temporal discrimination were simultaneously examined in two experiments using a discrete-trial, concurrent-chains arrangement with fixed interval (FI) and random interval (RI) terminal links. The random schedule was generated by first sampling a probability distribution after the programmed delay to reinforcement on the FI schedule had elapsed, and thus the RI never produced a component schedule value shorter than the FI and maintained a rate of reinforcement half that of the FI. Despite these features, the FI was not strongly preferred. The probability of obtaining the smallest programmed delay to reinforcement on the RI schedule was manipulated in Experiment 1, and the interaction of this probability and initial link length was examined in Experiment 2. As the probability of obtaining small values in the RI increased, preference for the schedule increased while the discriminated time of reinforcer availability in the terminal link decreased. Both of these effects were attenuated by lengthening the initial links. The results support the view that in addition to the delay to reinforcement, the probability of obtaining a short delay is an important choice-affecting variable that likely contributes to the robust preferences for variable, as opposed to fixed, schedules of reinforcement.     

EFFECTS OF DRUGS AND DRUG COMBINATIONS IN PIGEONS TRAINED TO DISCRIMINAT AMONG PENTOBARBITAL,DIZOCILPINE, A COMBINATION OF THESE DRUGS,AND SALIN

Drugs with multiple actions can have complex discriminative‐stimulus properties. An approach to studying such drugs is to train subjects to discriminate among drug combinations and individual drugs in the combination so that all of the complex discriminative stimuli are present during training. In the current experiments, a four‐choice procedure was used to train pigeons to discriminate among dizocilpine (noncompetitive NMDA receptor blocker), pentobarbital (GABA_A receptor agonist), a fixed‐dose combination of these two drugs, and saline. Following extended training, low doses of pentobarbital or dizocilpine administered alone produced saline‐appropriate responding. Higher doses of pentobarbital produced responding on the pentobarbital‐appropriate key and higher doses of dizocilpine produced responding on the dizocilpine key. Administering the lowest doses of pentobarbital and dizocilpine together resulted in responding on the saline‐appropriate key. Increasing the dose of pentobarbital in the presence of low doses of dizocilpine produced responding primarily on the pentobarbital‐appropriate key; increasing the dose of dizocilpine in the presence of the lowest dose of pentobarbital produced responding primarily on the dizocilpine‐appropriate key. Combining the higher doses of pentobarbital and dizocilpine resulted in responding primarily on the drug‐combination key. Low doses of phencyclidine or ethanol produced responding on the saline‐appropriate key, but intermediate doses resulted in individual subjects responding predominately on either the pentobarbital key, the dizocilpine key, or the drug‐combination key depending on the subject. After the highest dose of phencyclidine or ethanol, most subjects responded predominantly on the drug‐combination key. Low doses of other drugs tested produced responding on the saline‐appropriate key. With the highest diazepam doses responding was largely confined to the pentobarbital‐appropriate key. The highest doses of dextromethorphan or dextrorphan resulted in responding on the dizocilpine key more frequently than on other keys. Across a range of doses, morphine produced responding predominantly on the saline key. The results using the four‐key procedure emphasized the role of both GABA_A and NMDA receptors in the complex discriminative stimulus properties of phencyclidine and of ethanol.     

INFLUENCES ON COCAINE TOLERANCE ASSESSED UNDER A MULTIPLE CONJUNCTIVE SCHEDULE OF REINFORCEMENT

Under multiple schedules of reinforcement, previous research has generally observed tolerance to the rate‐decreasing effects of cocaine that has been dependent on schedule‐parameter size in the context of fixed‐ratio (FR) schedules, but not under the context of fixed‐interval (FI) schedules of reinforcement. The current experiment examined the effects of cocaine on key‐pecking responses of White Carneau pigeons maintained under a three‐component multiple conjunctive FI (10 s, 30 s, & 120 s) FR (5 responses) schedule of food presentation. Dose‐effect curves representing the effects of presession cocaine on responding were assessed in the context of (1) acute administration of cocaine (2) chronic administration of cocaine and (3) daily administration of saline. Chronic administration of cocaine generally resulted in tolerance to the response‐rate decreasing effects of cocaine, and that tolerance was generally independent of relative FI value, as measured by changes in ED50 values. Daily administration of saline decreased ED50 values to those observed when cocaine was administered acutely. The results show that adding a FR requirement to FI schedules is not sufficient to produce schedule‐parameter‐specific tolerance. Tolerance to cocaine was generally independent of FI‐parameter under the present conjunctive schedules, indicating that a ratio requirement, per se, is not sufficient for tolerance to be dependent on FI parameter.     

基于属性掌握概率的认知诊断计算机化自适应测验选题策略

在认知诊断计算机化自适应测验(CD-CAT)中, 被试对每个属性的掌握概率更直接地反映了被试能力的当前估计值。因此, 基于被试的属性掌握概率来构建选题策略, 选择最能改变被试属性掌握概率的题目作为下一个测验项目, 这应该是一个值得尝试的方案。本文借鉴已有相关研究的数据生成模式进行探索, 模拟实验结果表明：假设属性间相互独立,在定长(长度为16)、变长(长度为16或后验属性掌握模式概率达到0.8)以及短测验(长度分别为4、6、8、10)的情况下, 基于属性掌握概率的选题策略PPWKL和PHKL有较好的分类准确率, 在题目曝光率, 题库使用均匀性等方面也有较好的表现; 与研究较多的PWKL、HKL等策略相比, 也略有优势; 当属性间存在不同程度的相关时, 在定长、变长以及较短的测验条件下, 基于PHKL和MI的测验对知识状态估计精度较好, 基于PPWKL和PHKL的测验综合表现占优。     

Time manages interference in visual short-term memory

Emerging evidence suggests that age-related declines in memory may reflect a failure in pattern separation, a process that is believed to reduce the encoding overlap between similar stimulus representations during memory encoding. Indeed, behavioural pattern separation may be indexed by a visual continuous recognition task in which items are presented in sequence and observers report for each whether it is novel, previously viewed (old), or whether it shares features with a previously viewed item (similar). In comparison to young adults, older adults show a decreased pattern separation when the number of items between “old” and “similar” items is increased. Yet the mechanisms of forgetting underpinning this type of recognition task are yet to be explored in a cognitively homogenous group, with careful control over the parameters of the task, including elapsing time (a critical variable in models of forgetting). By extending the inter-item intervals, number of intervening items and overall decay interval, we observed in a young adult sample (N?=?35, M_age?=?19.56 years) that the critical factor governing performance was inter-item interval. We argue that tasks using behavioural continuous recognition to index pattern separation in immediate memory will benefit from generous inter-item spacing, offering protection from inter-item interference.     

The effects of reinforcer magnitude in the preceding and upcoming ratios on between‐ratio pausing in multiple,mixed, and single fixed‐ratio schedules

Hens responded under multiple fixed‐ratio schedules with equal response requirements and either a 1‐s or a 6‐s reinforcer. Upcoming reinforcer size was indicated by key color. Components were presented in a quasirandom series so that all four component transitions occurred. Postreinforcement pauses were affected by the upcoming and preceding reinforcer size, with longer pauses after large reinforcers followed by small reinforcers than when followed by large ones, and longer pauses after small reinforcers that were followed by small reinforcers rather than large ones. Pauses increased with fixed‐ratio size and the effects of reinforcer size were larger the larger the ratio. When reinforcer size was not signaled—mixed fixed‐ratio schedules—pauses were shorter after small than after large reinforcers. Signalling the upcoming reinforcer attenuated the effect of the previous reinforcer size on pause duration when small was followed by small and when either small or large by large, but enhanced the effect when large was followed by small. There was no effect of reinforcer size on pause duration when single fixed‐ratio schedules were arranged. The effects of reinforcer size on pauses depends on the size and range of the fixed ratios as well as the exact procedures used in the study.