Information flow in the brain: Computer requirements (A tutorial)

This paper covers mathematical, statistical, and experimental design considerations needed to design a computer system for EEG data acquisition, spectrum, and cross-spectrum analyses. A tutorial approach is used in which no formal proofs are offered. Conclusions are stated simply and in summary fashion, without justifying arguments. References to formal works are given. Conclusions about system design are discussed. Frequently encountered design issues are mentioned with various alternatives.     

Schedule-induced locomotor activity in humans.

In two experiments, humans received tokens either on a fixed-interval schedule for plunger pulling or various response-nondependent fixed-time schedules ranging from 16 to 140 seconds. Locomotor activity such as walking, shifting weight, or pacing was recorded in quarters of the interreinforcement interval to examine the induced characteristics of that behavior in humans. While performance was variable, several characteristics were present that have counterparts in experiments with nonhumans during periodic schedules of food reinforcement: (a) first quarter rates, and sometimes overall rates, of locomotor activity were greater during intervals that terminated in a visual stimulus and token delivery than those without: (b) overall rates of locomotor activity were greater during fixed-time 16-second schedules than during fixed-time 80- or 140-second schedules; (c) rates of locomotor activity decreased during the interreinforcement intervals; (d) locomotor activity was induced by response-dependent and response-nondependent token delivery. These results showed that the rate and temporal pattern of locomotor activity can be schedule-induced in humans.     

Reinforcement as positive or negative meaning-extension: An empirical demonstration

According to logical learning theory, a reinforcement involves the extension of meanings predicated by subjects who are asked to perform in a learning task. Based on this theoretical position, it is predicted that subjects who are administered a reinforcement following their successful anticipation of the second member of a paired-associates unit will acquire their liked trigrams more readily than their disliked trigrams (mixed lists). Conversely, it is predicted that subjects who are reinforced following their incorrect anticipations of the second paired-associates member will acquire their disliked trigrams more readily than their liked. College students (divided equally by sex) were exposed to one of three reinforcement conditions: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and no reinforcement (control). Trigrams reliably rated for likability by each subject were used as learnable materials. Although the control condition did not perform as expected, the remaining experimental conditions support the hypotheses.     

Memory and Counterfactual Simulations for Past Wrongdoings Foster Moral Learning and Improvement

In four studies, we investigated the role of remembering, reflecting on, and mutating personal past moral transgressions to learn from those moral mistakes and to form intentions for moral improvement. Participants reported having ruminated on their past wrongdoings, particularly their more severe transgressions, and they reported having frequently thought about morally better ways in which they could have acted instead (i.e., morally upward counterfactuals; Studies 1–3). The more that participants reported having mentally simulated morally better ways in which they could have acted, the stronger their intentions were to improve in the future (Studies 2 and 3). Implementing an experimental manipulation, we then found that making accessible a morally upward counterfactual after committing a moral transgression strengthened reported intentions for moral improvement—relative to resimulating the remembered event and considering morally worse ways in which they could have acted instead (Study 4). We discuss the implications of these results for competing theoretical views on the relationship between memory and morality and for functional theories of counterfactual thinking.     

For-Me-Ness,For-Us-Ness,and the We-Relationship

Topoi - This article investigates the relationship between for-me-ness and sociality. I start by pointing out some ambiguities in claims pursued by critics that have recently pressed on the...     

When moderation is mediated and mediation is moderated

Procedures for examining whether treatment effects on an outcome are mediated and/or moderated have been well developed and are routinely applied. The mediation question focuses on the intervening mechanism that produces the treatment effect. The moderation question focuses on factors that affect the magnitude of the treatment effect. It is important to note that these two processes may be combined in informative ways, such that moderation is mediated or mediation is moderated. Although some prior literature has discussed these possibilities, their exact definitions and analytic procedures have not been completely articulated. The purpose of this article is to define precisely both mediated moderation and moderated mediation and provide analytic strategies for assessing each.