An Optimized Design of Choice Experiments: A New Approach for Studying Decision Behavior in Choice Task Experiments

In this paper, we present a new approach for the optimal experimental design problem of generating diagnostic choice tasks, where the respondent's decision strategy can be unambiguously deduced from the observed choice. In this new approach, we applied a genetic algorithm that creates a one‐to‐one correspondence between a set of predefined decision strategies and the alternatives of the choice task; it also manipulates the characteristics of the choice tasks. In addition, this new approach takes into account the measurement errors that can occur when the preferences of the decision makers are being measured. The proposed genetic algorithm is capable of generating diagnostic choice tasks even when the search space of possible choice tasks is very large. As proof‐of‐concept, we used this novel approach to generate respondent‐specific choice tasks with either low or high context‐based complexity that we operationalize by the similarity of alternatives and the conflict between alternatives. We find in an experiment that an increase in the similarity of the alternatives and an increase in the number of conflicts within the choice task lead to an increased use of non‐compensatory strategies and a decreased use of compensatory decision strategies. In contrast, the size of the choice tasks, measured by the number of attributes and alternatives, only weakly influences the strategy selection. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How is the visual working memory load of driver influenced by information density of traffic signs?

The rapid development of urban roads has resulted in an increase in the amount of information that needs to be displayed on traffic signs. The overloading of information on traffic signs may increase drivers’ visual cognition burden and cause driving errors. It could be an important factor affecting driving safety and result in accidents. To enable drivers to cognize traffic signs, the information density that they could endure under reasonable workload levels should be determined. In this study, we designed and implemented trials to analyze drivers’ visual working memory load (VWML) caused by different information densities (including stimulus intensity (SI) and interval time of stimulus (IS)) of traffic signs. Twenty-four paid participants (12 females) with a mean age of 23.38 years (SD = 1.38) participated in laboratory simulation trials based on the memory retrieval approach. Subjective ratings (rating scale mental effort (RSME)), and performance measurement based on reaction time and accuracy of information-matching task were measured to reflect drivers’ VWML at different information densities. The results show that information density is an important factor affecting drivers’ VWML. The following are the significant observations of the study: (1) The subjective ratings on mental effort increased with increase in the SI. Meanwhile, it first decreased and then increased with increase in the IS. (2) The response accuracy results show that a high accuracy (≥0.7) was achieved by drivers in an IS of 15 s when the SI was at most 14.16 bit/m². Correspondingly, the drivers underwent less mental workload as a result of their better short-term memory characteristic. (3) The mean reaction time was over 1800 ms when the SI was over 14.16 bit/m². This indicated a reduction in the information-processing capability of the drivers. The results indicate that cognition of information of unreasonable density on traffic signs would increase drivers’ VWML. This would, in turn, result in an increase in their reaction time and decrease in accuracy. The threshold of information density was also determined through the experiment. It would satisfy the information demand of drivers and prevent information redundancy. The results contribute to an understanding of drivers’ VWML while cognizing traffic signs with different information densities and provide safety, effectiveness, and information continuity considerations for the design and setting of traffic signs.     

Memory for emotional words: The role of semantic relatedness,encoding task and affective valence

Emotional stimuli have been repeatedly demonstrated to be better remembered than neutral ones. The aim of the present study was to test whether this advantage in memory is mainly produced by the affective content of the stimuli or it can be rather accounted for by factors such as semantic relatedness or type of encoding task. The valence of the stimuli (positive, negative and neutral words that could be either semantically related or unrelated) as well as the type of encoding task (focused on either familiarity or emotionality) was manipulated. The results revealed an advantage in memory for emotional words (either positive or negative) regardless of semantic relatedness. Importantly, this advantage was modulated by the encoding task, as it was reliable only in the task which focused on emotionality. These findings suggest that congruity with the dimension attended at encoding might contribute to the superiority in memory for emotional words, thus offering us a more complex picture of the underlying mechanisms behind the advantage for emotional information in memory.     

金钱竞拍任务上的风险偏好:自尊水平和性别的作用

基于金钱-自尊交换理论,针对以往研究遗留的问题,本研究采用改编自著名的1美元竞拍游戏的实验任务,通过两个实验探索了自尊水平、竞拍者性别和竞拍对手性别对金钱竞拍中风险偏好的影响。结果表明:(1)自尊水平对金钱竞拍中的风险偏好有显著影响,中等水平自尊者表现出较高的风险偏好;(2)竞拍者性别的主效应及其与自尊水平的交互作用均不显著;(3)竞拍对手性别的主效应不显著,而与自尊水平及竞拍者性别之间的交互作用显著。依据相关的文献对上述发现进行了分析和讨论。     

Illegitimate tasks as assessed by incumbents and supervisors: converging only modestly but predicting strain as assessed by incumbents,supervisors, and partners

ABSTRACT

Illegitimate tasks are tasks that violate norms about what an employee can reasonably be expected to do. Representing a relatively recent stressor concept, illegitimate tasks have been linked to strain, but so far have been assessed only by self-report. The current multisource study investigates to what extent supervisors’ assessments of illegitimate tasks converge with incumbents’ self-reports of illegitimate tasks and predict three kinds of strain, namely psychological strain (incumbent report of exhaustion), behavioural strain (supervisors report of incivility), and family strain (partner report of work-family conflict). Low convergence between assessments was expected due to idiosyncratic appraisals but also to differing perspectives of supervisors and incumbents due to their roles, as described by the newly developed roles-as-perspectives theory proposed in this paper. Data from 166 triads were analysed by structural equation modelling and Relative Weight Analysis. Results showed that convergence between incumbent and supervisor reports of illegitimate tasks was rather low; it was higher when the supervisor had a limited span of control. Illegitimate tasks were associated with all three types of strain for both self- and supervisor reports of illegitimate tasks, indicating that the detrimental effects of illegitimate tasks cannot be explained by common method biases alone and that incumbents and supervisors have overlapping but not identical concepts of illegitimate tasks.     

The Speech and Vocalization Patterns of Boys with ADHD Compared with Boys with Dyslexia and Boys Without Learning Disabilities

The domain-specific hypothesis of L. Cosmides (1989) and L. Cosmides and J. Tooby (1989, 1992) positing that conditional logic has its origin in the evolution of social exchange and in the detection of potential cheaters was tested against a more domain-general hypothesis positing that adult reasoning is logical and that errors in conditional reasoning arise from misunderstandings, not from a lack of logicality. The results of 5 experiments with undergraduate students (n = 682 for Experiments 1-4; n = 188 for Experiment 5), which involved a series of selection tasks that yielded specific predictions about participant performance, were not consistent with the cheater detection hypothesis. Findings supported the misunderstandings hypothesis and imply that adults possess general-purpose logical competence versus domain-specific modules.     

Order information in verbal working memory shifts the subjective midpoint in both the line bisection and the landmark tasks

A largely substantiated view in the domain of working memory is that the maintenance of serial order is achieved by generating associations of each item with an independent representation of its position, so-called position markers. Recent studies reported that the ordinal position of an item in verbal working memory interacts with spatial processing. This suggests that position markers might be spatial in nature. However, these interactions were so far observed in tasks implying a clear binary categorization of space (i.e., with left and right responses or targets). Such binary categorizations leave room for alternative interpretations, such as congruency between non-spatial categorical codes for ordinal position (e.g., begin and end) and spatial categorical codes for response (e.g., left and right). Here we discard this interpretation by providing evidence that this interaction can also be observed in a task that draws upon a continuous processing of space, the line bisection task. Specifically, bisections are modulated by ordinal position in verbal working memory, with lines bisected more towards the right after retrieving items from the end compared to the beginning of the memorized sequence. This supports the idea that position markers are intrinsically spatial in nature.     

Reading span task performance,linguistic experience,and the processing of unexpected syntactic events

Accounts of individual differences in online language processing ability often focus on the explanatory utility of verbal working memory, as measured by reading span tasks. Although variability in reading span task performance likely reflects individual differences in multiple underlying traits, skills, and processes, accumulating evidence suggests that reading span scores also reflect variability in the linguistic experiences of an individual. Here, through an individual differences approach, we first demonstrate that reading span scores correlate significantly with measures of the amount of experience an individual has had with written language (gauged by measures that provide “proxy estimates” of print exposure). We then explore the relationship between reading span scores and online language processing ability. Individuals with higher reading spans demonstrated greater sensitivity to violations of statistical regularities found in natural language—as evinced by higher reading times (RTs) on the disambiguating region of garden-path sentences—relative to their lower span counterparts. This result held after statistically controlling for individual differences in a non-linguistic operation span task. Taken together, these results suggest that accounts of individual differences in sentence processing can benefit from a stronger focus on experiential factors, especially when considered in relation to variability in perceptual and learning abilities that influence the amount of benefit gleaned from such experience.     

The Stationary-Gaze Task Should Not Be Systematically Used as the Control Task in Studies of Postural Control

In studies of postural control, a control task is often used to understand significant effects obtained with experimental manipulations. This task should be the easiest task and (therefore) engage the lowest behavioral variability and cognitive workload. Since 1983, the stationary-gaze task is considered as the most relevant control task. Instead, the authors expected that free looking at small targets (white paper or images; visual angle: 12°) could be an easier task. To verify this assumption, 16 young individuals performed stationary-gaze, white-panel, and free-viewing 12° tasks in steady and relaxed stances. The stationary-gaze task led to significantly higher cognitive workload (mean score in the National Aeronotics and Space Administration Task Load Index questionnaire), higher interindividual body (head, neck, and lower back) linear variability, and higher interindividual body angular variability—not systematically yet—than both other tasks. There was more cognitive workload in steady than relaxed stances. The authors also tested if a free-viewing 24° task could lead to greater angular displacement, and hence greater body sway, than could the other tasks in relaxed stance. Unexpectedly, the participants mostly moved their eyes and not their body in this task. In the discussion, the authors explain why the stationary-gaze task may not be an ideal control task and how to choose this neutral task.     

Functional Synergy Between Postural and Visual Behaviors When Performing a Difficult Precise Visual Task in Upright Stance

Previous works usually report greater postural stability in precise visual tasks (e.g., gaze‐shift tasks) than in stationary‐gaze tasks. However, existing cognitive models do not fully support these results as they assume that performing an attention‐demanding task while standing would alter postural stability because of the competition of attention between the tasks. Contrary to these cognitive models, attentional resources may increase to create a synergy between visual and postural brain processes to perform precise oculomotor behaviors. To test this hypothesis, we investigated a difficult searching task and a control free‐viewing task. The precise visual task required the 16 young participants to find a target in densely furnished images. The free‐viewing task consisted of looking at similar images without searching anything. As expected, the participants exhibited significantly lower body displacements (linear, angular) and a significantly higher cognitive workload in the precise visual task than in the free‐viewing task. Most important, our exploration showed functional synergies between visual and postural processes in the searching task, that is, significant negative relationships showing lower head and neck displacements to reach more expended zones of fixation. These functional synergies seemed to involve a greater attentional demand because they were not significant anymore when the cognitive workload was controlled (partial correlations). In the free‐viewing task, only significant positive relationships were found and they did not involve any change in cognitive workload. An alternative cognitive model and its potential subtended neuroscientific circuit are proposed to explain the supposedly cognitively grounded functional nature of vision–posture synergies in precise visual tasks.