Where do "constraints" come from? A comparison between inferences in biology and in word learning

In this paper, as a commentary on the papers in this special issue, the nature of constraints is discussed in terms of the comparison between inferences in biology and in word learning. Young children's inferences in biology could be constrained by three sources of information: factual knowledge, expectations based on a theory, and ontological knowledge. For example, young children's inference about the length of noses could be constrained by the facts the children know about the animals, the similarity between the animals and humans, and the ontological distinction between living things and nonliving things. In the same way, young children might figure out word meanings by linguistic and pragmatic knowledge, expectations of word meanings (e.g., the whole-object assumption), and ontological knowledge. Interactions among these sources of knowledge are documented by the papers in this special issue and related studies. It is argued that learning biases such as the whole-object assumption could not be induced only by linguistic and pragmatic cues in a social context, but should be regarded as a product of the interaction between a social context and children's theories.     

The man who listens to behavior: folk wisdom and behavior analysis from a real horse whisperer

The popular novel and movie The Horse Whisperer are based on the work of several real-life horse whisperers, the most famous of whom is Monty Roberts. Over the last 50 years, Roberts has developed a technique for training horses that is both more effective and less aversive than traditional training techniques. An analysis of Roberts' methods (as described in his book, The Man Who Listens to Horses) indicates a deep understanding of behavioral principles including positive reinforcement, timeout, species-specific defense reactions, “learned helplessness,” and the behavioral analysis of language. Roberts developed his theory and techniques on the basis of personal experience and folk wisdom, and not as the result of formal training in behavior analysis. Behavior analysts can clearly learn from such insightful yet “behaviorally incorrect” practitioners, just as such practitioners can benefit from the objective science of behavior analysts.     

Lower bounds for the reliability of the total score on a test composed of non-homogeneous items: II: A search procedure to locate the greatest lower bound

Finding the greatest lower bound for the reliability of the total score on a test comprisingn non-homogenous items with dispersion matrix Σ _x is equivalent to maximizing the trace of a diagonal matrix Σ _E with elements θ _I , subject to Σ _E and Σ _T =Σ _x − Σ _E being non-negative definite. The casesn=2 andn=3 are solved explicity. A computer search in the space of the θ _i is developed for the general case. When Guttman's λ₄ (maximum split-half coefficient alpha) is not the g.l.b., the maximizing set of θ _i makes the rank of Σ _T less thann − 1. Numerical examples of various bounds are given. Present affiliation of the first author: St. Hild's College of Education, Durham City, England.     

SELECTIVE ASSOCIATIONS PRODUCED SOLELY WITH APPETITIVE CONTINGENCIES: THE STIMULUS-REINFORCER INTERACTION REVISITED

In studies reporting stimulus-reinforcer interactions in traditional conditioning paradigms, when a tone-light compound was associated with food the light gained stimulus control, but when the compound was paired with shock avoidance the tone gained control. However, the physical nature of the reinforcerrelated events (food vs. shock) presented in the presence of the tone-light compound was always confounded with the conditioned hedonic value of the compound's presence relative to its absence. When the compound was paired with shock, its presence was negative relative to its absence (which was shock-free). In contrast, when the compound was paired with food, its presence was positive relative to its absence (which was food-free). The present experiment dealt with this confounding effect by conditioning a tone-light compound to be positive or negative, relative to its absence, solely with food reinforcement. One group of rats received food for responding in the presence of the tone-light compound and no food in its absence. The other group also responded in the presence of the compound, but received food only in its absence. These rats were trained on a chained schedule in which responding in the presence of the tone-light compound produced a terminal link signaled by the absence of the compound; responding ceased in the terminal link because it delayed food delivery. In a test session to assess stimulus control by the elements of the compound, tone and light were presented separately under extinction conditions. Rats that had been exposed to a positive correlation between food and the compound emitted almost double the responses in the presence of the light as in the presence of the tone. In comparison, rats that had been exposed to a negative correlation emitted only two thirds as many responses in the presence of the light as in the presence of the tone. Because this selective association was produced using only food, it appears that the contingencies under which a reinforcer is presented, rather than (or as well as) its physical properties, can generate the selective associations previously attributed to “stimulus-reinforcer interactions.” This could mean that regardless of the class of reinforcer that ultimately maintains responding (appetitive or aversive), the contingency-generated hedonic value of the compound stimulus may influence the dominant modality of stimulus control.     

Perceived self-efficacy by Under-10 tennis players when scaling the equipment and play area

The modification of child-sports aims to develop an optimal learning environment that facilitates the emergence of desirable psychological outcomes (e.g., self-efficacy). The aim of the study was to assess the effect of reducing net height and court size on self-efficacy and shot-efficacy of U-10 tennis players in a real-game context. Twenty U-10 tennis players (M = 9.46, SD = 0.66 years of age; M = 3.65, SD = 1.53 years of tennis experience) played two round-robin tournaments one week apart in the same order and schedule. The first tournament was played under the International Tennis Federation’s Tennis 10s regulation at green stage (GT). Afterwards, the modified tournament (MT) was played with the same regulation GT, however, net height (0.91 m–0.80 m) and court size (23.77 m × 8.23 m–18.00 m × 8.23 m) were reduced. Results accomplished using Bayesian and Frequentist inferences showed an increase in players’ self-efficacy when serving in MT than GT (BF₁₀ = 4.796; δ = −0.576; and p = .011). This is increase may be due to a reduction in their serving faults in MT (BF₁₀ = 6.169; δ = −0.591; and p = .010). Therefore, reducing net height and court size enhances the serve performance and self-efficacy and thus promotes positive tennis experiences.     

When Breaking the Rules Relates to Creativity: The Role of Creative Problem-Solving Demands and Organizational Constraints

Drawing on theoretical views of creative deviance, the present study hypothesized that employees with a tendency to break rules are more creative at their jobs (Hypothesis 1). Furthermore, we expected that this is particularly the case when employees face high problem-solving demands (i.e., they are expected to be creative) but at the same time they face high organizational constraints (e.g., they are not given the resources they need in order to be creative; Hypothesis 2). To test these expectations, we conducted a cross-sectional survey study (Study 1) and a daily diary survey study (Study 2) among employees from different occupational groups. Study 1 provided evidence that employee rule-breaking is related to other-rated employee creativity. Study 2 replicated this finding with a day-level measure of self-rated employee creativity. Furthermore, multilevel regression analyses revealed that the link is stronger when day-level problem-solving demands and organizational constraints are both high. Our findings contribute to the literature by providing empirical support to hardly examined propositions, namely, that non-compliant behaviors (i.e., rule-breaking) and obstacles (i.e., organizational constraints) may, in fact, boost creativity. Finally, suggestions for practice are made, recognizing the challenges posed to management in regulating employee rule-breaking.     

Determination of visual figure and ground in dynamically deforming shapes

Figure/ground assignment - determining which part of the visual image is foreground and which background - is a critical step in early visual analysis, upon which much later processing depends. Previous research on the assignment of figure and ground to opposing sides of a contour has almost exclusively involved static geometric factors - such as convexity, symmetry, and size - in non-moving images. Here, we introduce a new class of cue to figural assignment based on the motion of dynamically deforming contours. Subjects viewing an animated, deforming shape tended to assign figure and ground so that articulating curvature extrema - i.e., "hinging" vertices - had negative (concave) contour curvature. This articulating-concavity bias is present when all known static cues to figure/ground are absent or neutral in each of the individual frames of the animation, and even seems to override a number of well-known static cues when they are in opposition to the motion cue. We propose that the phenomenon reflects the visual system's inbuilt expectations about the way shapes will deform - specifically, that deformations tend to involve rigid parts articulating at concavities.     

Development of animal recognition: a difference between Parts and Wholes

A series of experiments examined children's recognition of animals by their features (Parts) and by the relative scale of the parts (Wholes). They were asked to identify the correct picture of an animal they could name from the original plus two computer-generated alternatives. We examined the developmental trends associated with upright (Studies 1 and 3) and inverted presentations (Study 3). Both experiments confirmed children's superior ability in dealing with the recognition of animal Parts over animal Wholes, especially for the younger ages tested (6- and 10-year-olds). It was not until the ages of 15-16 that children demonstrated equal performance on Whole and Part items. The late acquisition of animal Whole recognition is compared to the late acquired configural skills proposed for face recognition.     

Phonotactic constraints help to overcome effects of schwa deletion in French

In a crossmodal priming experiment, visual targets (e.g. RENARD, 'fox') were auditorily primed by either an intact [see text] 'the fox' or reduced form [see text] 'the fox' of the word. When schwa deletion gave rise to an initial cluster that respected the phonotactic constraints of French (e.g. [lapluz] 'the lawn' in which /pl/ is a legal word beginning in French), there was a processing cost for the targets primed by the reduced form of the word compared to intact primes (e.g. [see text] 'the lawn'). However, when schwa deletion produced an initial cluster that violated the phonotactic constraints of French (e.g. [see text], where /Rn/ is not allowed as a word beginning), there was no penalty for targets primed by reduced compared to intact forms of the word. Assuming that listeners change their phonemic percept when confronted with phonotactically illegal sequences (Segui, Frauenfelder, & Hallé, 2001), phonotactic constraints may help to restore the deleted schwa in sequences like le renard [see text] in French.     

Effects of decision-phase time constraints on emotion-based learning in the Iowa Gambling Task

Research employing the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has frequently shown that learning is impaired in various clinical populations. However, precisely what constitutes "unimpaired" control group learning remains unclear. In order to understand some of the possible factors underlying variability in control group IGT performance, the present study sought to manipulate features of the task to intentionally disrupt learning. Specifically, the present study investigated the effects of time constraints on emotion-based learning during automated administration of the IGT. For two groups of participants, a time-constraint of either 2-s or 4-s was implemented during the critical decision making period, while a control group received no time constraint. We also evaluated participants' subjective experience after every block of 20 trials. Results demonstrated that the 2-s group differed significantly from the control group. Subjective experience measures revealed rapid development of awareness of the advantageous and disadvantageous decks among all three groups. Overall, our findings demonstrate, for the first time, the effects of decision-phase time constraints on emotion-based learning and indicate that the IGT reward/punishment schedules are to some extent cognitively penetrable.