A measure of agreement for use with the Holland classification system

A measure of agreement for partially ordered data is suggested that makes use of the k categories with the highest ranks, the ranks of the remaining categories being disregarded. The proposed measure is applied to the Self-Directed Search in order to evaluate its agreement with occupational preference. Other forms of agreement in the Holland classification system can also be assessed by the proposed measure. Examples are congruence and husband-wife and counselor-client agreement.     

Gaze and informativeness during category learning: Evidence for an inverse relation

In what follows, we explore the general relationship between eye gaze during a category learning task and the information conveyed by each member of the learned category. To understand the nature of this relationship empirically, we used eye tracking during a novel object classification paradigm. Results suggest that the average fixation time per object during learning is inversely proportional to the amount of information that object conveys about its category. This inverse relationship may seem counterintuitive; however, objects that have a high-information value are inherently more representative of their category. Therefore, their generality captures the essence of the category structure relative to less representative objects. As such, it takes relatively less time to process these objects than their less informative companions. We use a general information measure referred to as representational information theory (Vigo, 2011a, 2013a) to articulate and interpret the results from our experiment and compare its predictions to those of three models of prototypicality.     

Change one can believe in: Adding learning to computational models of self-regulation

Theories of self-regulation describe motivation as a dynamic process of goal choice and goal striving. To facilitate those processes, individuals learn about themselves and their environment, which is an internal dynamic process. However, the precise nature of the relationship between these learning and motivational processes is not well specified. This article integrates formal models of learning, goal choice, and goal striving using a single information processing structure found in self-regulatory models of motivation. Results from two published studies ( and ) validate the model. In both cases, the integrated model accounts for findings that previous theories of self-regulation could not explain. Discussion focuses on additional tests to validate the model and on the value of incorporating formal models from the cognitive, learning, and motivational literatures to account for behavior in complex settings and over time.     

How to reason without words: inference as categorization

The idea that reasoning is a singular accomplishment of the human species has an ancient pedigree. Yet this idea remains as controversial as it is ancient. Those who would deny reasoning to nonhuman animals typically hold a language-based conception of inference which places it beyond the reach of languageless creatures. Others reject such an anthropocentric conception of reasoning on the basis of similar performance by humans and animals in some reasoning tasks, such as transitive inference. Here, building on the modal similarity theory of Vigo [J Exp Theor Artif Intell, 2008 (in press)], we offer an account in which reasoning depends on a core suite of subsymbolic processes for similarity assessment, discrimination, and categorization. We argue that premise-based inference operates through these subsymbolic processes, even in humans. Given the robust discrimination and categorization abilities of some species of nonhuman animals, we believe that they should also be regarded as capable of simple forms of inference. Finally, we explain how this account of reasoning applies to the kinds of transitive inferences that many nonhuman animals display.     

A family of differentiation indices

A general class of differentiation indices is introduced for profiles of scores. Their ordinal properties and an application to Holland's classification system are examined. Comparison with other suggested indices is performed both theoretically and empirically.We are grateful to Professors J. Rayman and J. L. Holland for an interesting discussion. We would also like to thank Vera lachan for suggesting the problem.     

A Web-based digitized video image system for the study of motor coordination

A Web-based instructional project for the study of motor coordination is presented. The project includes two components: a tutorial on motor coordination and an interactive digitized video image system developed for the analysis of motion, including topics in biomechanics, motor coordination, motor control, and motor skill. This interactive system allows for the quantitative analysis of stored video images that are accessible from the World-Wide Web. The use of this digitizing system for the measurement and analysis of human locomotion coordination patterns is presented.     

Does anchoring vary across cultures? Expanding the Many Labs analysis

Numerous investigations have examined anchoring effects, but most of them studied individuals from similar cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Replication studies have shown that anchoring heuristics have heterogeneous effects across different cultural groups. In the present investigation, we examined this heterogeneity by looking for associations between effect size and cultural values orientation. We conducted pre-registered meta-analyses of four anchoring tasks, using open data provided by previous works and collected from 6,344 participants in 10 countries. The analyses confirmed that anchoring effects display strong heterogeneity between cultures. Moreover, specific cultural values orientations explained substantial amounts of variability in anchoring effect sizes between cultures: Intellectual Autonomy and Egalitarianism were negatively correlated with anchoring effect size, as we had expected. Surprisingly, Harmony was also negatively correlated with anchoring effect size, whereas Mastery had a positive association. These results suggest that cultural differences can play an important role in observed anchoring effect size.     

Effect of Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain on Walking Economy: An Observational Study

The authors investigated the effects of chronic low back pain (LBP) and walking speed (WS) on metabolic power and cost of transport (CT). Subjects with chronic nonspecific LBP (LBP group [LG]; n = 9) and healthy (control group [CG]; n = 9) were included. The test battery was divided into 3 blocks according to WS as follows: preferred self-selected speed (PS), and lower and higher than the PS. In each block, the volunteers walked 5 min, during which oxygen consumption was measured. Although without differences between groups, the LG had CT lower in slower speeds than in faster speeds. Walking speed affected CT only in the LG, which the group had the greatest walking economy at slower speeds.     

Is Weiner's attribution‐help model stable across cultures? A test in Brazilian subcultures

The effect of attribution of responsibility on the intention to help is a well‐studied effect. The Weiner model of attribution‐emotion‐help is the main theoretical development to describe the structural relation between these variables. Some research results have suggested that culture influences the relation between model variables. Collectivists tend to show more compassionate emotions independent of attribution of responsibility whereby emotion is no longer a mediator. The present research aims to test the Weiner model in Brazil, a country with established subcultures and clear distinctions in the collectivism–individualism dimension across its regions. An experiment with 1,569 participants from all five Brazilian regions was conducted. Path analysis revealed that more socially oriented participants tended to feel more compassion for the experimental scenario's protagonist, independent of controllability manipulation, decreasing the effect of emotions in the model. These results depict the effect of culture on the model, questioning the stability of the model across cultures.     

Spatial Cognition in a Multimedia and Intercultural World Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Spatial Cognition (ICSC 2018)

The logic operators (e.g., “and,” “or,” “if, then”) play a fundamental role in concept formation, syntactic construction, semantic expression, and deductive reasoning. In spite of this very general and basic role, there are relatively few studies in the literature that focus on their conceptual nature. In the current investigation, we examine, for the first time, the learning difficulty experienced by observers in classifying members belonging to these primitive “modal concepts” instantiated with sets of acoustic and visual stimuli. We report results from two categorization experiments that suggest the acquisition of acoustic and visual modal concepts is achieved by the same general cognitive mechanism. Additionally, we attempt to account for these results with two models of concept learning difficulty: the generalized invariance structure theory model (Vigo in Cognition 129(1):138–162, 2013, Mathematical principles of human conceptual behavior, Routledge, New York, 2014) and the generalized context model (Nosofsky in J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 10(1):104–114, 1984, J Exp Psychol 115(1):39–57, 1986).