Learning from people, things, and signs

Starting from the observation that small children can count more objects than numbers—a phenomenon that I am calling the “lifeworld dependency of cognition”—and an analysis of finger calculation, the paper shows how learning can be explained as the development of cognitive systems. Parts of those systems are not only an individual’s different forms of knowledge and cognitive abilities, but also other people, things, and signs. The paper argues that cognitive systems are first of all semiotic systems since they are dependent on signs and representations as mediators. The two main questions discussed here are how the external world constrains and promotes the development of cognitive abilities, and how we can move from cognitive abilities that are necessarily connected with concrete situations to abstract knowledge.

Sex differences when searching for a mate: A process‐tracing approach

Sex differences in the extent of mate search were investigated using two sequential choice processes. In Study 1, attribute search, prior to choosing a mate or rejecting two competing mates, for either a short‐ or long‐term relationship, was explored. Men (women) seeking short‐term relationships were the least (most) likely to reject both suitors. Men acquired a greater number of attributes prior to rejecting mates. The length of the relationship solely affected men's search behaviors. Study 2 utilized a nested sequential model namely participants decided how many suitors to sample prior to choosing a short‐term mate, and how many attributes to acquire on each sampled suitor. Women sampled a greater number of suitors prior to choosing a mate. Biological sex was found to be a greater moderator of mate search than were three personality traits linked to search. Across both studies less information was acquired prior to rejecting versus choosing a mate. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

抑郁的人格易感性：概念、理论与发展

抑郁人格易感性的研究主要围绕依赖-自我批评,社会性依赖-自主以及完美主义等概念展开。目前该方向的理论和研究不仅涉及抑郁易感人格的特点与结构,还探讨了人格与压力情境、抑郁的关系,易感人格与一般人格、特定抑郁症状的关系,人格易感性的不适应性本质等问题,文章对此进行了回顾。今后的研究除了应当在已有方向上深入探究之外,还应当考虑在不同文化背景下对人格易感性采用自下而上的方式重新考察,以及将人格与认知易感性研究相结合等新思路     

特应性皮炎的治疗

特应性皮炎（AD）是一种以瘙痒和湿疹为主要特征的慢性炎症疾病,严重影响患者的生活质量。由于病因和发病机制至今尚未完全明确,其治疗在临床上仍然是一个挑战。大多数患者可通过避免激发因素、基础皮肤护理和外用抗炎药得到较好的疗效,少部分患者皮损广泛且对常规治疗抵抗,需要系统药物治疗。由于患者的病情严重程度、合并的病变及发病年龄变异很大,在治疗上应遵循按照疾病严重程度进行个体化的阶梯治疗方案的原则。在选择系统治疗时,在考虑其治疗收益的同时应考虑其安全性和副反应。     

Accounting for auto-dependency in binary dyadic time series data: A comparison of model- and permutation-based approaches for testing pairwise associations

Many theories have been put forward on how people become synchronized or co-regulate each other in daily interactions. These theories are often tested by observing a dyad and coding the presence of multiple target behaviours in small time intervals. The sequencing and co-occurrence of the partners’ behaviours across time are then quantified by means of association measures (e.g., kappa coefficient, Jaccard similarity index, proportion of agreement). We demonstrate that the association values obtained are not easy to interpret, because they depend on the marginal frequencies and the amount of auto-dependency in the data. Moreover, often no inferential framework is available to test the significance of the association. Even if a significance test exists (e.g., kappa coefficient) auto-dependencies are not taken into account, which, as we will show, can seriously inflate the Type I error rate. We compare the effectiveness of a model- and a permutation-based framework for significance testing. Results of two simulation studies show that within both frameworks test variants exist that successfully account for auto-dependency, as the Type I error rate is under control, while power is good.     

A RUNS‐TEST ALGORITHM: CONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT AND RESPONSE RUN STRUCTURES

Four rats' choices between two levers were differentially reinforced using a runs‐test algorithm. On each trial, a runs‐test score was calculated based on the last 20 choices. In Experiment 1, the onset of stimulus lights cued when the runs score was smaller than criterion. Following cuing, the correct choice was occasionally reinforced with food, and the incorrect choice resulted in a blackout. Results indicated that this contingency reduced sequential dependencies among successive choice responses. With one exception, subjects' choice rule was well described as biased coin flipping. In Experiment 2, cuing was removed and the reinforcement criterion was changed to a percentile score based on the last 20 reinforced responses. The results replicated those of Experiment 1 in successfully eliminating first‐order dependencies in all subjects. For 2 subjects, choice allocation was approximately consistent with nonbiased coin flipping. These results suggest that sequential dependencies may be a function of reinforcement contingency.     

The dynamics of choice among multiple alternatives

We consider neurally based models for decision-making in the presence of noisy incoming data. The two-alternative forced-choice task has been extensively studied, and in that case it is known that mutually inhibited leaky integrators in which leakage and inhibition balance can closely approximate a drift-diffusion process that is the continuum limit of the optimal sequential probability ratio test (SPRT). Here we study the performance of neural integrators in n?2 alternative choice tasks and relate them to a multihypothesis sequential probability ratio test (MSPRT) that is asymptotically optimal in the limit of vanishing error rates. While a simple race model can implement this ‘max-vs-next’ MSPRT, it requires an additional computational layer, while absolute threshold crossing tests do not require such a layer. Race models with absolute thresholds perform relatively poorly, but we show that a balanced leaky accumulator model with an absolute crossing criterion can approximate a ‘max-vs-ave’ test that is intermediate in performance between the absolute and max-vs-next tests. We consider free and fixed time response protocols, and show that the resulting mean reaction times under the former and decision times for fixed accuracy under the latter obey versions of Hick's law in the low error rate range, and we interpret this in terms of information gained. Specifically, we derive relationships of the forms log(n-1), log(n), or log(n+1) depending on error rates, signal-to-noise ratio, and the test itself. We focus on linearized models, but also consider nonlinear effects of neural activities (firing rates) that are bounded below and show how they modify Hick's law.     

A sequential cognitive diagnosis model for polytomous responses

This paper proposes a general polytomous cognitive diagnosis model for a special type of graded responses, where item categories are attained in a sequential manner, and associated with some attributes explicitly. To relate categories to attributes, a category‐level Q‐matrix is used. When the attribute and category association is specified a priori, the proposed model has the flexibility to allow different cognitive processes (e.g., conjunctive, disjunctive) to be modelled at different categories within a single item. This model can be extended for items where categories cannot be explicitly linked to attributes, and for items with unordered categories. The feasibility of the proposed model is examined using simulated data. The proposed model is illustrated using the data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 assessment.