Delayed matching-to-sample performance: Effects of relative reinforcer frequency and of signaled versus unsignaled reinforcer magnitudes

Six pigeons were trained on a delayed red-green matching-to-sample task that arranged four delays within sessions. Matching responses intermittently produced either 1.5-s access to food or 4.5-s access to food, and nonmatching responses produced either 1.5-s or 4.5-s blackout. Two phases were conducted: a signaled phase in which the reinforcer magnitudes (small and large) were signaled by houselights (positioned either on the left or right of the chamber), and an unsignaled phase in which there was no correlation between reinforcer magnitude and houselight position. In both phases, the relative frequency with which red and green matching responses produced food was varied across five values. Both matching accuracy and the sensitivity of performance to the distribution of reinforcers for matching responses decreased with increasing delays in both phases. In addition, accuracy and reinforcer sensitivity were significantly lower on signaled small-reinforcer trials compared with accuracy and sensitivity values on signaled large-reinforcer trials and on both types of unsignaled trials. These results are discussed in the context of research on both nonhuman animal and human memory.     

A similarity-based smoothing approach to nondimensional item analysis

The probability that an examinee chooses a particular option within an item is estimated by averaging over the responses to that item of examinees with similar response patterns for the whole test. The approach does not presume any latent variable structure or any dimensionality. But simulated and actual data analyses are presented to show that when the responses are determined by a latent ability variable, this similarity-based smoothing procedure can reveal the dimensionality of ability very satisfactorily.The author wishes to acknowledge the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada through grant A320, and to thank Educational Testing Service for making the data on the Advanced Placement Chemistry Exam available.     

Assessing the Validity of Data Synthesis Methods to Estimate Religious Populations

The present study tests the validity of a data synthesis approach to population estimates of religiously defined groups. This is particularly important in places like the United States, where there is no definitive source of official data on its population's religious composition, and researchers must rely on costly, large‐scale surveys, or congregational membership studies. Each approach has limitations, especially for estimation of small religious groups and for estimation within small geographic areas. Without official statistics, the degree of bias in estimates is unknown. Data synthesis, specifically Bayesian multilevel estimation with poststratification, offers a useful alternative that maximizes the utility of data across all sources to estimate multiple groups from the same sources of data. This method also facilitates comparison of groups. This study provides evidence of the validity of the approach by synthesizing data from Canada, a country that includes questions about religious identification in its national census.     

遮挡范式下运动速度和方向对碰撞时间估计绩效指标的影响

为探索运动速度和方向对碰撞时间（TTC）估计的影响,采用3运动速度×4运动方向的双因素设计开展了实验研究。结果发现,在相对慢速条件下,受试者TTC估计的准确性显著差于相对中速和相对快速条件;仅在相对慢速条件下受试者对竖直方向的TTC估计准确度显著差于水平方向、低估TTC的比例显著高于高估TTC的比例。结果表明,运动速度对TTC估计绩效指标的影响相对较强,运动方向对其影响相对较弱;两个因素的影响存在交互作用。     

A semiparametric approach for item response function estimation to detect item misfit

When scaling data using item response theory, valid statements based on the measurement model are only permissible if the model fits the data. Most item fit statistics used to assess the fit between observed item responses and the item responses predicted by the measurement model show significant weaknesses, such as the dependence of fit statistics on sample size and number of items. In order to assess the size of misfit and to thus use the fit statistic as an effect size, dependencies on properties of the data set are undesirable. The present study describes a new approach and empirically tests it for consistency. We developed an estimator of the distance between the predicted item response functions (IRFs) and the true IRFs by semiparametric adaptation of IRFs. For the semiparametric adaptation, the approach of extended basis functions due to Ramsay and Silverman (2005) is used. The IRF is defined as the sum of a linear term and a more flexible term constructed via basis function expansions. The group lasso method is applied as a regularization of the flexible term, and determines whether all parameters of the basis functions are fixed at zero or freely estimated. Thus, the method serves as a selection criterion for items that should be adjusted semiparametrically. The distance between the predicted and semiparametrically adjusted IRF of misfitting items can then be determined by describing the fitting items by the parametric form of the IRF and the misfitting items by the semiparametric approach. In a simulation study, we demonstrated that the proposed method delivers satisfactory results in large samples (i.e., N ≥ 1,000).     

The influence of locative expressions on context-dependency of endpoint control in aiming

It has been claimed that increased reliance on context, or allocentric information, develops when aiming movements are more consciously monitored and/or controlled. Since verbalizing target features requires strong conscious monitoring, we expected an increased reliance on allocentric information when verbalizing a target label (i.e. target number) during movement execution. We examined swiping actions towards a global array of targets embedded in different local array configurations on a tablet under no-verbalization and verbalization conditions. The global and local array configurations allowed separation of contextual-effects from any possible numerical magnitude biases triggered from calling out specific target numbers. The patterns of constant errors in the target direction were used to assess differences between conditions. Variation in the target context configuration systematically biased movement endpoints in both the no-verbalization and verbalization conditions. Ultimately, our results do not support the assertion that calling out target numbers during movement execution increases the context-dependency of targeted actions.     

SNARC (spatial–numerical association of response codes) meets SPARC (spatial–pitch association of response codes): Automaticity and interdependency in compatibility effects

Concepts, including the mental number line, or addressing pitch as high and low, suggest that the spatial–numerical and spatial–pitch association of response codes (SNARC and SPARC) effects are domain-specific and thus independent. Alternatively, there may be dependencies between these effects, because they share common automatic or controlled decision mechanisms. In two experiments, participants were presented with spoken numbers in different pitches; their numerical value, pitch, and response compatibility were varied systematically. This allowed us to study SNARC and SPARC effects in a factorial design (see also Fischer, Riello, Giordano, &; Rusconi, 2013 Fischer, M. H., Riello, M., Giordano, B. L., &; Rusconi, E. (2013). Singing numbers?…?in cognitive space--a dual-task study of the link between pitch, space, and numbers. Topics in Cognitive Science, 5(2), 354–366. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12017[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Participants judged the stimuli on numerical magnitude, pitch, or parity (odd–even). In all tasks, the SNARC and SPARC effects had superadditive interactions. These were interpreted as both effects sharing a common mechanism. The task variation probes the mechanism: In the magnitude judgement task, numerical magnitude was explicit, whereas pitch was implicit; in the pitch judgement task, it was vice versa. In the parity judgement task, both dimensions were implicit. Regardless of whether they were implicit or explicit, both SNARC and SPARC effects occurred in all tasks. We concluded that by not requiring focal attention the common mechanism operates automatically.     

Congruency effects in dot comparison tasks: convex hull is more important than dot area

The dot comparison task, in which participants select the more numerous of two dot arrays, has become the predominant method of assessing Approximate Number System (ANS) acuity. Creation of the dot arrays requires the manipulation of visual characteristics, such as dot size and convex hull. For the task to provide a valid measure of ANS acuity, participants must ignore these characteristics and respond on the basis of number. Here, we report two experiments that explore the influence of dot area and convex hull on participants’ accuracy on dot comparison tasks. We found that individuals’ ability to ignore dot area information increases with age and display time. However, the influence of convex hull information remains stable across development and with additional time. This suggests that convex hull information is more difficult to inhibit when making judgements about numerosity and therefore it is crucial to control this when creating dot comparison tasks.     

中小学生字词再认中场合效应的发展研究

以223名小五、初二、高二学生为被试,探讨对学习项目的加工水平与再认中场合效应的关系以及这种关系的年龄特征。结果表明:(1)当对学习项目进行深加工时,场合因素对三个年级再认效果的影响没有表现出年龄趋势;当对学习项目进行浅加工时,场合因素对小学五年级再认效果的影响显著高于对初二、高二年级的影响,而初二、高二年级的差异不显著;(2)小学五年级学生再认中的场合效应与掩蔽模型的假设一致,初二、高二年级学生的场合效应与加和整体匹配模型的假设一致。     

A violation of dominance and the consumption value of gambling

We document an apparently widespread violation of dominance in the horse‐racing betting market in the UK, and use the systematic variation in the incidence of this violation to estimate the consumption value of gambling. Betting‐shop gamblers in the UK face a tax on gambling of 10%, but have the choice of paying the tax either at the time of wager or on any return on a successful bet. It can be shown, however, that the latter act is strictly dominated by another action in which tax is paid on the wager. Despite this, more than 18% of bets appear to be placed by gamblers who choose to pay tax on the return. We explore the hypothesis that this apparent violation of rationality may be explained by a component of utility which represents the consumption value of gambling, which in turn varies with the amount wagered. We then estimate this component from a dataset consisting of a record of 25,000 individual bets using probit analysis of the tax decision. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.