A tutorial on kernel methods for categorization

The abilities to learn and to categorize are fundamental for cognitive systems, be it animals or machines, and therefore have attracted attention from engineers and psychologists alike. Modern machine learning methods and psychological models of categorization are remarkably similar, partly because these two fields share a common history in artificial neural networks and reinforcement learning. However, machine learning is now an independent and mature field that has moved beyond psychologically or neurally inspired algorithms towards providing foundations for a theory of learning that is rooted in statistics and functional analysis. Much of this research is potentially interesting for psychological theories of learning and categorization but also hardly accessible for psychologists. Here, we provide a tutorial introduction to a popular class of machine learning tools, called kernel methods. These methods are closely related to perceptrons, radial-basis-function neural networks and exemplar theories of categorization. Recent theoretical advances in machine learning are closely tied to the idea that the similarity of patterns can be encapsulated in a positive definite kernel. Such a positive definite kernel can define a reproducing kernel Hilbert space which allows one to use powerful tools from functional analysis for the analysis of learning algorithms. We give basic explanations of some key concepts—the so-called kernel trick, the representer theorem and regularization—which may open up the possibility that insights from machine learning can feed back into psychology.     

复杂陈述性知识学习过程中学习活动对学习成绩影响研究

研究以16名学习者为被试,采用言语数据分析的方法,研究了复杂陈述性知识的学习过程,得出(1)学生的学习成绩受学习过程中深层次建构活动的影响:深层次建构活动越多,学生的学习成绩越好.浅层次建构活动对学生的学习成绩影响不大;(2)学生的学习成绩受学习过程中自我监控活动的影响:自我监控活动越多,学生产生的深层次建构活动就越多.     

材料规则难度对内隐与外显协同学习的影响

选取两种规则难度的人工语法字母串.采用强分离的实验程序,探索了材料规则难度对内隐学习、内隐与外显的协同学习的影响.结果显示: (1)规则难度较大的限定状态人工语法学习中,内隐学习成绩显著好于外显学习;而在难度较小的双条件语法学习中,外显学习显著好于内隐学习. (2)在两种规则难度的材料学习中,内隐与外显的协同学习成绩均好于单独的内隐或者外显学习,具有优势效应. (3)内隐学习获得的规则知识具有可迁移性.     

大学生合作学习的问题解决过程及其对问题解决水平的影响

以认知风格为依据,将合作学习小组分为场依存同质组、场独立同质组以及异质组。通过小组对开放问题以及逻辑问题的解决,考察不同认知风格个体、不同类型小组的问题解决过程。同时考察问题解决过程对问题解决水平的影响。结果表明：（1）个体在解决不同类型问题时的过程体验不同。（2）问题解决过程在个体的认知风格和逻辑问题解决水平之间起调节作用。（3）不同类型小组的问题解决过程不同。（4）合作是影响小组合作学习效果的重要因素之一。     

Preference for attractiveness and thinness in a partner: Influence of internalization of the thin ideal and shape/weight dissatisfaction in heterosexual women, heterosexual men, lesbians, and gay men

This study assesses whether characteristics of one's own body image influences preferences of attractiveness in a partner. The role of gender and sexual orientation is also considered. Heterosexual women (n = 67), lesbian women (n = 73), heterosexual men (n = 61) and gay men (n = 82) participated in an internet survey assessing attitudes towards the body and preferences of attractiveness in a partner. Men in particular were found to prefer attractive partners, regardless of sexual orientation. Weight/shape dissatisfaction was found to be a negative predictor for heterosexual men and women. For gay men, preferences were better explained by internalization and weight/shape dissatisfaction. No such associations were found in the lesbian group. Levels of weight/shape dissatisfaction and internalization of socio-cultural slenderness ideals influence expectations of thinness and attractiveness in a partner with this effect being modified by gender and sexual orientation.     

Gender differences in the pricing of professional services: Implications for income and customer relationships

This study extends our understanding of the effects of gender on both pricing behavior and owner income by examining both relationships in an experimental simulation involving owners of veterinary practices. Consistent with prior research, women owners are found to employ “compassionate pricing” more than men, even when the same services are offered. The process by which gender influences price, however is found to depend in part on one’s relationship orientation. Specifically, women are found to have a higher relationship orientation than men and relationship orientation is found to directly bias women’s transactional pricing towards more compassionate pricing. The relationship between role orientation, pricing, and income, however, is rather complex. While lower prices have a negative relationship with owner income, relationship orientation is found to have a positive direct influence on income. As a result, the influence of relationship orientation on income is found to be both negative, due to lower prices, and positive, due possibly to the resulting customer loyalty.     

Rationales in children’s causal learning from others’ actions

Shown commensurate actions and information by an adult, preschoolers’ causal learning was influenced by the pedagogical context in which these actions occurred. Four-year-olds who were provided with a reason for an experimenter’s action relevant to learning causal structure showed more accurate causal learning than children exposed to the same action and data accompanied by an inappropriate rationale or accompanied by no explanatory information. These results suggest that children’s accurate causal learning is influenced by contextual factors that specify the instructional value of others’ actions.     

Enabling Interactive Exploration of Cultural Heritage: An Experience of Designing Systems for Mobile Devices

Interaction design of mobile systems is a complex activity because it requires considering new usability and user experience aspects in order to exploit the peculiar characteristics of mobile devices, such as their pervasive and ubiquitous nature. This paper discusses issues about designing, developing and evaluating mobile systems. Italy has a rich cultural heritage, and the focus in this study is on the design of systems that enable interactive exploration of historical sites, not only for enhancing the user experience but also for learning purposes. The experience of the researchers at the Interaction, Visualisation and Usability lab, University of Bari, Italy, in designing a mobile learning system, called Explore!, which supports young students learning ancient history during a visit to archaeological parks, is reported. The evaluation of Explore! through systematic field studies shows that the adopted approach is able to transform the visit to archaeological parks into a more complete and culturally rich experience.     

Metacognitive Judgments and Control of Study

ABSTRACT— Recent evidence indicates that people's judgments of their own learning are causally related to their study behavior and not epiphenomenal. I argue here that people use these metacognitions in an effort to selectively study material in their own region of proximal learning. First they attempt to eliminate materials that are already well learned. Then they progress successively from studying easier to more difficult materials. Successful implementation of this metacognitively guided strategy enhances learning. The necessary components are, first, that the metacognitions be accurate, and second, that the appropriate choices are implemented for study. With these parts in place, the individual is in position to effectively take control of his or her own learning.     

The Importance of Sound for Cognitive Sequencing Abilities: The Auditory Scaffolding Hypothesis

ABSTRACT— Sound is inherently a temporal and sequential signal. Experience with sound therefore may help bootstrap—that is, provide a kind of "scaffolding" for—the development of general cognitive abilities related to representing temporal or sequential patterns. Accordingly, the absence of sound early in development may result in disturbances to these sequencing skills. In support of this hypothesis, we present two types of findings. First, normal-hearing adults do best on sequencing tasks when the sense of hearing, rather than sight, can be used. Second, recent findings suggest that deaf children have disturbances on exactly these same kinds of tasks that involve learning and manipulation of serial-order information. We suggest that sound provides an "auditory scaffolding" for time and serial-order behavior, possibly mediated through neural connections between the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain. Under conditions of auditory deprivation, auditory scaffolding is absent, resulting in neural reorganization and a disturbance to cognitive sequencing abilities.